Tag Archives: Folk

90's, Electronic, Folk, House, Music, New Release, Review, Solo, Techno

Quick Reviews: Sh*t Robot, The Chemical Brothers, J. Tillman

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I have been getting tons of material lately for review consideration so I thought I would try something new and shrink down my usually lengthy reviews.  Nothing fancy, just trying to get the word out on some amazing bands and releases.  Enjoy.

Sh*t Robot – From The Cradle To The Rave

Marcus Lambkin, aka Sh*t Robot, has taken his time releasing his debut album – literally it has been 20 years in the making.  The Irish born punk rocker turned DJ has made a name for himself in the NYC club scene and even though has never recorded an album before has made a huge name for himself by just doing his thing.  I should also mention that Lambkin helped build that which is now DFA Records from the ground up.

From The Cradle To The Rave reflects Lambkin’s life as a DJ and more.  Opening track, co-written by LCD Soundsystem‘s James Murphy, “Tuff Enough?” is an electronic anthem of sorts with simple beats and synthesizer that was actually written about an upcoming expectancy.  “Losing My Patience” featuring Hot Chip‘s Alexia Taylor was a fun track that I think many of the dance clubs will have no problem spinning. “Simple Things (Work It Out)” was an entertaining experimental dance track of sorts with almost a spoken word feel to it.

My personal favorite cut on the album was “Take ‘Em Up” featuring another musician from LCD Soundsystem, Nancy Whang.  This song not only screamed retro 80’s but also heavily reminded me of what would happen if Daft Punk decided to sample a Sonic The Hedgehog soundtrack.  Whang’s vocals are perfect for this track more suitable to be played at a roller rink.

From The Cradle To The Rave is proof that sometimes taking your time is a good thing.  This release is for all the folk out there that still enjoy the clubs.  Full of electronic goodness that reaches back to the days when techno was all the hype in the 90’s as well as hints at some Kraftwerk.  The album is solid front to back without over doing it.  Where I don’t frequent those types of clubs anymore I still got a kick out of that which is Sh*t Robot.

The Chemical Brothers – Further

Seeing a band like The Chemical Brothers come out with new material makes this guy right here happy.  As a longtime fan of the British duo (Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons), I was thrilled when Further was released and even more intrigued when I heard that alongside the album would be visuals to accompany each of the songs. While I still have yet to obtain the videos I can tell you that they are available on DVD and iTunes for download.

Further is different from previous releases as it is mostly instrumental with Rowlands taking it upon himself to sing on a couple tracks as well as features Stephanie Dosen (Massive Attack) who lends her vocals as well.  I honestly prefer when they collaborate with other musicians on their previous releases but still enjoyed listening to tracks like “Escape Velocity” and “Another World”. “Swoon” was a trip in itself that I could not help but tag along with.

Heavy on the synthesizers and easing back on the drum machines throughout make for a very chill album to listen to.  This is one of those types of albums I can see myself not growing tired of anytime soon.  For those of you out there that still has a soft spot for the duo who hit the charts with “Block Rocking Beats” back in the day don’t hesitate to pick up Further.  The duo still has it and has dropped one great album to dance the night away to or even just sit back and get lost in.

J. Tillman – Singing Ax

Beautiful is just one of the many words that can be used to describe J. Tillman‘s latest release Singing Ax. Not just a member of Fleet Foxes, the folk artist has been very involved in recording material with others as well as himself since around 2004.  His latest offering is a vinyl only release that was recorded by Tillman almost entirely by himself in just three days.  The result is a calm yet captivating collection of songs that couple compliment any campfire gathering or just a quiet afternoon of solitude.

Opening track “Three Sisters” pretty much set the bar up high for the entire album for me.  While listening to TIllman’s singing I could only anticipate on what he was going to sing next and patiently waited the story, backed by acoustic guitar playing and drum machine, to unfold.  “Diamondback” continued with a calm retreat of a pleasant tale that had me closing my eyes and absorbing the intimate song.  In fact I found myself doing that a lot while listening to Singing Ax.  Later on I was treated to the album ending “A Seat At The Table” a song, to me, that almost was a musical rendition of a storm rolling in complete with thundering drumming towards the end of the track.

Tillman dropped an amazing album that barely carried any further supplement aside from his singing and acoustic guitar.  Honestly nothing more was needed as the folk chill release was presented perfectly.  I can only imagine what a live performance would entail.  Luckily for me he is touring with Phosphorescent and is making a stop in Cleveland in just a short couple of weeks.  Fans of Nick Drake and even a younger Neil Young I think will really enjoy this album as well as anyone out there that is just looking for a musical form of relaxation.

Folk, Music, New Release, Punk, Review, Rock, Solo

Sundowner – We Chase The Waves – CD Review

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A sundowner can be a lot of things (a car, drink, plane, type of wind), but in this case the Sundowner I am referring to is an amazing solo project by Chris McCaughan, the guitarist and vocalist of punk act The Lawrence Arms.  

We Chase The Waves is Sundowner’s second album and like the first, it is far from punk rock and more of a brush with folk music that brings forth good moods and instant sing alongs.  Recently dropping on Asian Man Records, We Chase The Waves might just be the album that gets me through the rest of the summer.

Starting as a side project, McCaughan wrote a few songs in his free time and played intimate shows around the Chicago area taking the moniker Sundowner.  With help from fellow band mates and friends the project turned into a band of sorts with Sundowner’s debut being released in the spring of 2007 on Red Scare Records.  Just three years later McCaughan and friends decided for a follow-up and recorded We Chase The Wave in their homes, literally, in just eight months.

Passionate and compelling are the two words that describe McCaughan’s wiring styles on the CD.  The guy is a natural storyteller and just has a way with words. From the moment “In The Flicker” started off the album I was beyond mesmerized.  The song was nothing more than an acoustic jam amongst friends but I was addicted, I wanted more, and before I knew it the ten track album was wrapping up.

Tracks like “As The Crow Flies” impressed the hell out of me even though the song was nothing over the ordinary.  The way the song presented itself to the listener, told the story, and ended it on a positive note not only begged for another listen but might have very well inspired a certain someone typing out this review…

“Baseball’s Sad Lexicon” took words from the 1910 poem of the same title by Franklin Pierce Adams telling the tale of the Cubs succeeding over the Giants thanks to a game winning double play (the only way I ever would have known this was by reading the CD insert and Google).  As an ode to McCaughan’s beloved Chicago Cubs he did a great job rendition of the classic poem.

“Mouth Of A Tiger” was a stern and ever so low opinionated track with lyrics like “I’m as lucky as a funeral” and “I’m not looking at the glass half full”.  I adored the singing style on the song match up with the acoustic and lap steel guitar playing.  Full of everyday truth and plain old honest opinions, the song begged to be played on repeat.

We Chase The Waves was an amazing start to finish album with no lulls in between.  McCaughan nails it dead on with his catchy melodies and fine storytelling that will grow on you regardless if you are a fan of him, The Lawrence Arms, or not.  Don’t look at Sundowner as a side project by a punk rock guy, look at it as a talented musician who has created something that more people need to know about.

Country, Download This!, Folk, Music, Punk, Rock

Download This!: Suburban Home Records Mixtape Volume 5 – Someone’s Gonna Die

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Download Suburban Home Records Mix Tape Volume 5, Someone’s Gonna Die

Step One: DOWNLOAD THIS! – Suburban Home Records Mixtape Volume 5 – Someone’s Gonna Die

Step Two: Enjoy it.

Step Three: Share it with as many people as possible.

Why?  Because I said so. Don’t believe me? Check out what the good folk of Suburban Home said in their latest blog:

Suburban Home Records Mix Tape Volume 5, “Someone’s Gonna Die” marks a new approach to our Mix Tape series. Partly because it costs less money and partly because we found so many songs we had to put on this mix (putting the running time at over 100 minutes), Mix Tape Volume 5 is available as a free download and not a physical compact disc. While we will miss the physical, tangible qualities of the past volumes, I won’t personally miss having to burn thousands of CDrs and hand-packing every one of them. Let me know your thoughts on this approach.

“Someone’s Gonna Die” was inspired by I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In the House’s new album, “The Sounds of Dying”. Our own Andy Thomas helped me put together the track listing for this mix. The first two songs are from the new album which will be up for pre-order on Thursday, July 15th. The 2nd of Sonofabitch’s songs is a cover of Two Cow Garage’s “Postcard and Apologies” and their version is absolutely fantastic. We figured it only fitting to put Two Cow’s version on right after and while keeping with this mindset, we put a Townes Van Zandt cover by Michael Dean Damron (of ICLASOBITH) followed by the original song. The rest of the mix finds a number of Suburban Home tracks from the likes of Austin Lucas (new demo), Tim Barry, The Takers, Armchair Martian, Jr Juggernaut, Jon Snodgrass, Drag the River, and Look Mexico alongside some of our favorite tracks by new and old bands. We took submissions for this mix by bands who thought their music would work on this volume of our Mix Tape and while we had only planned on putting 1 or 2 songs from these submissions, we put like 6 or 7 songs. We apologize to those of you who submitted tracks that were not selected, but we hope you understand that it was impossible to put all the submissions on. Additionally, I picked a few of my favorite newer bands like The Evening Rig, Arliss Nancy, and John Moreland and the Black Gold Band. We put a number of oldies but goodies from the likes of Lucky Old Sun (Ben Nichols old band), Slobberbone, the Replacements, and more. I think that this could be my favorite Mix Tape yet. I haven’t stopped listening to it since we finished it.

Please download this mix. If you run a blog, please post it on there. If you are in a band on this Mix, please post the mix for download on your Facebook/Twitter/Myspace pages. After downloading the zipped folder, send it out to everyone you know. If our yousendit link expires, just email me or post a comment and I will replace the link with a new one. We really hope you enjoy this mix and if you find some new bands that have caught your ear, please consider buying a record from them or their label and make sure you mark their tour dates on your calendar.

If you could take anything home from our previous mix tapes, it would be great if you downloaded the mix and shared it with at least 4 other friends. I would love to see this mix reach people all over the world. As I always say, music is meant to be shared.

Download hi-resolution cover art and back art if you want to print your own covers in the event you want to burn this onto CDs (it would have to be 2 Audio CDs or 1 Mp3 CD since there is over 100 minutes of audio). Artwork done incredibly by Brandon Proff.

Folk, Hip Hop, Indie, Music, Music Video, New Release, Review, Rock

Sage Francis – LI(F)E – CD Review

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Hip-hop artist Sage Francis recently returned with LI(F)E, an all new album on ANTI- Records.  This time around the lyrical genius has tried a different approach to his music by asking for assistance from various musicians who provided personal selections for him to work with.  Skip the bass heavy beats and typical hip-hop soundtracks that have gone with many of his previous works, this time around LI(F)E proves to be Sage Francis’ most sundry work to date.

Having been a fan of Sage Francis since about the time Y2K seemed a threat, I have only gotten more thrilled in anticipation with each of his releases.  I never listened to his albums as much as I studied them.  The man always impressed me with his ability of taking words and formulating them into something intriguing all while accompanied with sometimes self-made hip-hop and even jazzy beats.  This comes from the guy who bought a Sage Francis hoodie from Sage himself a couple years back at one of his shows and did not even realize it was him until mid-way though our conversation.  Oops.

I had to admit I was stoked to see the album cover for LI(F)E was drawn up by contemporary street artist Shepard Fairey.  A young Sage Francis graces the cover and I later found out that it was a dated photo of Sage Francis reminding him of the harder times in life when he slept on the floors at his friend’s houses and just lived day by day.  Not getting down by this things have obviously changed for the better over the years.

“Little Houdini” opened up the album featuring music written by ex-Grandaddy turned solo artist Jason Lytle.  The music, previously written as an instrumental by Lytle, originally had no lyrics to go along with.  Once obtained Francis worked his magic and created a song focused around a fugitive who escaped custody to see his dying mother based from actual events.  Francis had no problem putting his flair on top of the music and one would think both were written at the same time.  The song was one of the better cuts on the entire album.

“Three Sheets To The Wind”, featuring music by Chris Walla of Death Cab For Cutie continued with a appealing track but it just did not match up to the opening track  The questionable “I Was Zero” started out great until Sage just inserted a weak refrain repeating  “when I came out my momma, I was zero”. For a seasoned hip hop artist that holds many wins on freestyle challenges in the past I felt more effort could have been put forth in this track lyrically.  Perhaps my expectations were set high for Sage and I should include that some of the lines he flows out during the song contained amazing selections of words but the music provided perfect for a rap of sorts with a generic chorus killed it for me.

I enjoyed “Slow Man”, a slow folky track summing up the thoughts in many aging individuals, if not Sage himself.  If Sage’s voice had more baritone in it on “Diamond’s & Pearls” I swear I would have been listening to Everlast.  The impressive “The Baby Stays” was a profound story based around the results of a redundant establishment called life only to succumb to the new outlook at the result between an unlikely pair.  The folk soundtrack, courtesy of Tim Rutili, aided Sage to the very ideal story about an unwanted life turning into the greatest thing ever.

Screaming children assist Sage in “London Bridge” a fun track full of random wonders and events in the world.  The song was fun and I think that is all it was meant to be featuring Sage, a bunch of kids, and once again Chris Walla.  Without looking too deep into it I left it at that and enjoyed it.

The late Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse) collaborated with Sage on “Love The Lie”, perhaps my favorite cut on the entire CD.  It was chilling to hear this song knowing that Linkous ended his life for reasons that will never be known.  The track was upbeat from start to finish and almost inspiring yet clearly full of sarcasm.  This is the kind of song you had to actually listen to in order to understand how Sage works.

“The Best Of Times” was another track on LI(F)E that I admired over the others.  The more spoken word track recalled personal stories of Sage making for a powerful close to an impressive release.  As if sitting there listening to Sage was not great enough the musicthat accompanied Sage’s verbal memory was created by Yann Tiersen.

I loved how the album ended as strong as it began.  Sure there were a couple head scratching tracks in there but overall LI(F)E was a pleasure to listen to.  It’s not a hip-hop album by any means but more of a carefully premeditated project from a guy who happens to be good at rapping.  It’s easy for anyone who is familiar with his older material to just not get it – it’s different.  Taking written music in favor of generated beats this round, Sage has created a branch off of what he loves to do and I honestly admire his doing.  Without sounding too cliché, give LI(F)E a chance.

00's, 80's, 90's, Cleveland, Music, New Release, Post-Hardcore, Punk, Review, Rock

Leatherface – The Stormy Petrel – CD Review

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Unknown to some but adored by many, Leatherface is back with their ninth release this time around on No Idea Records.  The UK punk rock band holds the title for being not only an influence on many current bands of today, but also in shaping DIY punk rock.  Formed in the late 80’s, Leatherface continues to rock on The Stormy Petrel.   This is the bands first release in over six years.

Having been a fan of Leatherface for years now I really was curious to see if they band still could contain their sound still and I will say that they have not lost their punk / folky  / post-hardcore edge.

The best way for me to describe The Stormy Petrel is to imagine what Gaslight Anthem might sound like if a tired Lemmy from Motorhead fronted the band.  Of course I am not saying it sounded exactly like that, but with gruff vocals on top of catchy melodic guitars I could not help but find the similarity.  The combination of the soft spoken singing of Frankie Stubbs, the last of two original members (Dickie Hammond being the other) I might add, and appealing rock jams just kept inviting me to listen to the album over and over.

I also liked the symbolism encased in the album’s title as it is in reference to a bird called a storm-petrel who sadly is threatened by human activity.  If you want more information about what storm-petrels are all about you should click HERE.  Don’t ask me how I knew this, let’s just say I love the Discovery Channel.

Looking deeper into the meaning I also discovered The Stormy Petrel refers to Joseph Hodgson, a man named a hero over a dozen times yet to this day has no tribute for all he accomplished.  Check out HERE and HERE for more interesting information about this man who was passed up in the history books.

“God Is Dead” started off the CD and I found myself immediately digging what I heard.  The lyrics were a little bizarre speaking of burying someone of a higher power in a shed but it was enjoyable to listen to as was the refrain that begged to be sung along with.  “My World’s End” just maintained my interested with a little more punk rock edge to it.  The music was not too overbearing and just fit perfect with Stubbs’ vocal strain.

The song “Broken” really proved upon my earlier music comparison as the music mirrored something Gaslight might play.  Perhaps one of my favorite tracks on the album, I could not help singing along with the uncanny track.  The following track picked things up a bit with “Another Dance” proving this album was emotionally all over the place.  Other tracks worth mentioning were “Diego Garcia”, “Monkfish” and album closer “Hope”.

With more of a melancholy feel throughout, the album was still a good listen from start to finish.  At times the lyrics seemed to repeat too much on tracks but it was not enough to turn me away.  It’s nice to see that this band is still putting out worthy material to listen to and what’s even better is that the band is currently touring in support of the release.  To hear that a 22 year old band is still hitting the clubs and playing out just proves that you are never too old to do what you love.

Look for Leatherface to play May 9th at Now That’s Class in Lakewood with very special guests Ninja Gun, Dead To Me, and Cleveland’s F*cking Cops plus others.  Doors are at 9pm and I am sure there will be a healthy crowd there that night so make sure you get there before it sells out!

UPDATE: Sadly Leatherface had to cancel their Cleveland stop due to an uncontrollable situation including border control. Should I find any more information out I will be sure to post.